A device and method of this kind are known from DE 198 09 738 A1. The device disclosed here is an x-ray diagnostic device having a control unit for preadjusting the aperture settings required for taking the image. The control unit has direct access to a data memory containing patient data and can also access an organ program memory containing default aperture setting values. The disclosed device is also able to determine the size of the organ under examination from patient-related data and set the optimum aperture value using servo motors.
The disclosed device is particularly suitable for examination of the lung in a digital pulmonary workstation.
X-ray equipment is also well-known for its use in angiography systems which are used among other things to insert devices known as stents into coronary vessels in a cardiological context. Stents are medical adjuvants generally consisting of short metal tubes with a reticulated wall structure. They can be expanded using balloon catheters. Expanding the balloon catheter inserted in a coronary vessel also causes the coronary vessel to be dilated. After removal of the balloon catheter from the coronary vessel, the expanded stents ensure that the coronary vessel remains dilated. The stents are inserted and aligned using the x-ray angiography systems.
Reliably detecting stents in angiographic examinations is a major technical challenge, particularly in radioscopy mode. As the stents are made by different manufacturers, they differ markedly in respect of material used and mechanical design, which makes it difficult to adjust the angiography system such that both the stent and the surrounding tissue are clearly discernible to medical personnel. The challenges for detecting stents will increase still further with what are known as drug eluting stents (DES), because the DES are coated with a material designed to prevent restenosis of the coronary vessel. These additional coatings make it even more difficult to detect the stents in the x-ray image. In addition, stents made of biodegradable material are being developed. Such a stent is the so-called Igaki-Tamai stent made of poly-L-lactic acid. Such stents made of biodegradable material are difficult to show with sufficient contrast in x-ray images.